Lakers' Luka Doncic Hypes 'Amazing' Austin Reaves, Celebrates His 'Unbelievable' Rise
Luka Dončić is clearly a big Austin Reaves fan.
"I mean this guy [Reaves] just scored 30 in his fourth game in five days," Dončić told reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, 125–109, a game that saw Reaves score 30 points to go along with seven rebounds and six assists. "That explains everything. He's an amazing player. For him to go undrafted is—unbelievable. It's not easy to go undrafted and then play at this level. It's amazing just to be by his side."
Dončić added 21 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds himself, though he shot just 5-of-20 from the field. His playmaking still affected the game in a major way, though, opening up shots for players like Reaves.
And much as Dončić is a fan of Reaves' game, the feeling is mutual.
"[Dončić] creates such havoc for teams' defenses that 90 percent of the time people are blitzing him, as you can probably see, and he makes the right play out of the blitz," Reaves told reporters. "He doesn't try to force it too much in those situations, and he makes the right play. So therefore you're playing four-on-three, and it just comes down to playing the game the right way and passing it to the open person, because three people can't guard four."
The Luka Effect has been real for these Lakers. The team is 10-5 in games he's played for them this season since he was traded from the Dallas Mavericks, and a good chunk of those games has come while the Lakers dealt with a series of injuries, including to LeBron James and Rui Hachimura.
Reaves and Dončić have quickly established chemistry together, meanwhile, and have a plus-5.9 net rating while sharing the court, per NBA.com.
Once the Lakers get healthy, they'll be a real threat in the West. Currently, the team is 42-25, good for fourth in the conference. With the duo of Dončić and James in place and Reaves emerging as a legitimate No. 3 option, however, the Lakers are a scary potential matchup come the playoffs.
